"THE MOVIE J.R. SHOT!"
After watching Chuck Russell's fun 1988 remake of The Blob yesterday, I decided to continue on and watch the 1972 sequel Son of Blob, which is also included on Umbrella's new limited blu-ray release of the original 1958 film and its '88 remake (though only in standard definition and 4:3 aspect ratio). The print on the Umbrella release actually bears the film's alternate title of Beware! The Blob.
If you came into the movie without any knowledge of its history or production, you would swear that Son of Blob was the result of a bunch of college kids heading out for a weekend on the pot and deciding on the spur of the moment to grab a friend's 8mm home movie camera and dream up a horror movie on the spot. But then you realize that it was actually directed by I Dream of Jeannie and Dallas star Larry Hagman, and features performances from the likes of Burgess Meredith, Carol Lynley, Cindy Williamms, Dick Van Pattern, Sid Haig and other recognizable faces and names, and you wonder what must have been going through their heads while the film was being shot.
From what I've read about the production of the film, a lot of it was improvised, and I recall reading a recent interview with one of Larry Hagman's kids stating that he was a big pothead, which may help explain why this film turned out as strange as it did. As either a horror film or a comedy it is very lackluster, but it does have its own weird little charm about it, and it is certainly a real curio and a definite product of its time.
